


I'm a believer, how about you?

by 4thofFive



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-09
Updated: 2013-07-09
Packaged: 2017-12-18 04:48:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/875792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4thofFive/pseuds/4thofFive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny can't get it through Steve's thick head!</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm a believer, how about you?

**Author's Note:**

> Can't believe I've written another story so soon after my epic. My last story had them only as friends so I wanted to hurry back to the romance as soon as possible.

Danny nervously rolled the beer bottle in his hands. He had yet to take a drink and the liquid was growing warm under his sweaty palms. Steve sat quietly beside him as if knowing Danny had to be given time to say whatever it is he needed to say.

 

“This is hard for me,” the blonde man began quietly. “I’ve given it a lot of thought but it’s still painful as hell.”

 

Danny cleared his throat loudly. There was no way he could look up into Steve’s eyes.

 

“As I said, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought and…we need to break up.” Danny glanced over to Steve who sat staring at him impassively. Danny licked his lips nervously and glanced away. 

 

“These last four months have been amazing. It’s been wonderful, it really has but I just don’t think our dating is the right thing. It’s going to be too hard working together all day then being together at night. Plus workplace relationships invariably end in heartbreak and then where will our partnership be? And the team? Also this whole thing must be awkward for Chin and Kono…and the Governor…I mean I know he hasn’t said anything but still, he must be worried about us being together. And the other cops…a couple of them have started treating me differently…kind of on edge or something,” Danny’s voice faded away.

 

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Finally he looked up at Steve, his heart pounding in his chest. He hated like hell to break the other man’s heart like this – especially with Steve’s abandonment issues.

 

“I’m sorry babe but I think it’s for the best.”

 

As Danny watched, Steve pressed his lips together in a firm line and nodded his head slowly as if mulling over Danny’s words. Finally the dark-haired man looked up at Danny.

 

“No.” he announced firmly.

 

Danny sat frozen for a moment. What?

 

“No?” Danny asked in confusion.

 

Steve shook his head.

 

“No. We’re not breaking up.”

 

The SEAL stood and began gathering up the empty beer bottles from where they lay on the sand.

 

“Can you grab the cooler?” he asked casually as he turned to walk back to the house.

 

Danny rose unsteadily from his chair and stared at Steve’s retreating back for a moment before grabbing the cooler and running after his partner.

 

“No?” Danny repeated. “What do you mean no?”

 

“No means no Danny,” answered Steve calmly as he climbed the steps to the lanai. “We’re not breaking up.”

 

“Yes we are.”

 

“No we’re not.”

 

“Yes Steve…Yes, yes, yes!”

 

“No, no Danny, no, no, no.”

 

“Steven…”

 

“Daniel.”

 

Danny scampered up the steps to the lanai.

 

“Steve listen to me, I know this is hard for you. God knows it’s ripping my guts out but it’s for the best. We have to break up.”

 

Steve pushed open the door and walked into the kitchen. As he loaded the empty beer bottles in the recycling container he shook his head again.

 

“Nope.”

 

Danny stood in the middle of the kitchen holding the cooler in both hands, his pants legs rolled up, his feet covered with sand. 

 

“You…you can’t just…we…”

 

Steve pushed the recycling container under the sink and closed the cupboard door. He looked up at Danny with a smile.

 

“You staying here tonight?”

 

Danny stared at him. Maybe Steve had hit his head or…or had swimmer’s ear and couldn’t hear properly.

 

“Am I...? No I’m not staying here tonight because we’re breaking up. We’re ending our personal and sexual relationship. We will no longer be a couple.”

 

Seeing that Danny wasn’t going to do anything with the cooler, Steve took it from his unresisting hands and upended it to dump the ice.

 

“We’ll still be a couple,” replied Steve raising his voice over the clatter of ice falling into the sink. “Cause we’re not breaking up.”

 

“Steve listen to me…” Danny began gently, his hands outstretched in a supplicating manner.

 

Steve put the cooler on the counter then walked over to Danny and bent down to give him a quick kiss on the lips. 

 

“I’m heading to bed. Can you lock up behind you? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

As Danny watched, Steve strolled out of the kitchen, turning off the light as he went, then began climbing the stairs.

 

Danny followed blindly until he was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up as Steve disappeared down the hallway.

 

“No Steve,” he called up after the rapidly retreating man. “You won’t see me tomorrow. Tomorrow is Saturday and since we’re breaking up, we won’t be seeing each other on Saturday.”

 

Steve disappeared into his bedroom and Danny heard the snick of the door closing.

 

*********

 

Danny sat in his armchair and stared unseeing at the flickering television. The day had been a long and painful one. The realization that he and Steve weren’t together anymore had hit him like a ton of bricks at regular intervals. He glanced at the clock: 6:43 p.m. He sighed quietly. Normally the two of them would be out on their date night. Every Saturday, unless they had a case, they would take turns taking the other on a date.

 

Danny smiled wistfully. Last week he had surprised Steve with an evening ocean cruise and dinner on a yacht. Sure it was kind of touristy but it combined their two loves, boats for Steve and food for Danny. They’d had such a great time. 

 

Danny swallowed hard and blinked rapidly. He’d already cried in the shower that morning and he wouldn’t do it again.

 

The blonde man wrapped his arms around himself and shivered slightly. It was 79 degrees in the house, he couldn’t possibly be cold…maybe he was coming down with something.

 

Danny frowned when he heard the knock on his door. He growled in frustration. Couldn’t people just leave him alone in his grief? He climbed listlessly to his feet and walked over to open the door. Danny let out a small gasp as Steve stood on the stoop smiling brightly. The SEAL was dressed in black trousers and an amazing aqua blue button down shirt that brought out his eyes and made him look so gorgeous Danny had to tighten his hands into fists in order to keep from grabbing him.

 

“What are you doing here?” Danny asked, his voice hoarse from lack of use and…yeah ok, maybe a bit of crying.

 

Steve tipped his head to one side looking a bit like Lassie.

 

“Date night,” he announced cheerfully. “I’m here to take you on a date.” The taller man looked Danny up and down critically. “You can’t wear jeans where we’re going.” 

 

Steve pushed into the room and flopped down on the couch looking up at Danny expectantly. “Well, get a move on, we have a 7:15 reservation.”

 

Danny stood in the still open doorway, his mouth hanging open and his hands dangling limp at his side.

 

“Steve…” he squeaked. He closed his mouth and cleared his throat. “Steve,” he continued. “Don’t you understand what I was talking about last night? Didn’t you hear me? There isn’t going to be any date night because there isn’t going to be any date. We’ve broken up!”

 

Steve smiled warmly up to the blond man.

 

“No we haven’t.”

 

Danny grabbed fistfuls of his hair and pulled it in frustration.

 

“Yes we have! Yes we have! I broke up with you last night.”

 

Steve shrugged and examined his fingernails for a moment.

 

“I didn’t agree so we’re not broken up.”

 

Danny looked wildly around the house as if to find some place to hide his rapidly fading sanity.

 

“Steve…”

 

Steve stood up and waved his hands as if brushing away Danny’s words.

 

“Danny we can discuss all of this at the restaurant ok? Now go and get changed.” The SEAL leaned down and grabbed the TV remote to change the channel. “And don’t wear a tie,” he ordered as he sat down on the couch again.

 

Danny stared at him dumbly for several moments. Finally he nodded.

 

“Ok…ok we can go to the restaurant but only we so we can discuss this further. It’s not a date!”

 

“Mmhmm,” Steve replied already engrossed in the movie and no longer listening to his partner.

 

*********

 

“What kind of wine do you want?” Steve asked perusing the menu like he was some kind of expert Sommelier.

 

Danny laid his hands flat on the table and let out a long, steadying breath.

 

“I don’t want any wine, thank you,” he explained patiently, “because I only drink wine on dates and this is not a date.”

 

Steve looked up and beamed at the waitress as she returned to take their drinks order.

 

“I’ll have a glass of the Malbec and my boyfriend will have a Longboard.”

 

Danny opened his mouth to remind Steve that he was no longer his boyfriend but thought better of it. No, he needed to keep calm and explain this simply and easily. It was obvious what the problem was. Steven was gorgeous. Every red-blooded woman and most of the men who laid eyes on him wanted him. He had obviously never been dumped before. After all who in their right mind…Danny stopped his thoughts dead in their tracks. He gave his head a shake.

 

The detective smiled gently and reached across the table to take one of Steve’s hands in his.

 

“Babe,” he began quietly. “I know being dumped is probably a new thing for you…”

 

“I’ve been dumped before,” Steve interjected.

 

Danny looked at him in surprise.

 

“You have?”

 

Steve shrugged and smiled again at the waitress when she returned with their drinks. Danny pulled his hand back to wrap it around the beer bottle.

 

“Sure. Everyone’s been dumped Danny.”

 

Danny nodded rapidly. Good, good he could work with this.

 

“Then you understand…I mean you know how painful this can be and you can see that I hated ending our relationship but…”

 

Steve took a sip of his wine and smacked his lips appreciatively.

 

“Hmmm, you should try this it’s very good.”

 

Danny placed his beer bottle on the table and dropped his face into his hands. Why couldn’t he get through to this Neanderthal?

 

“Steve,” he sighed, his frustration growing.

 

Steve chuckled then shook his head.

 

“I’m sorry Danny. I’d forgotten you wanted to talk; something about breaking up?”

 

Danny looked up in surprise dropping his hands away from his face. Was this a breakthrough finally?

 

“Yes…yes Steve I wanted to talk about our breaking up.”

 

Steve took another sip of his wine then leaned back on his chair and waved his hand in a gesture that indicated Danny should begin talking.

 

“OK,” the taller man sighed. “Why do you think we should break up?”

 

Danny shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

 

“Well… I told you all of the reasons last night and…”

 

Steve shook his head and leaned forward again planting his elbows on the table and folding his arms in front of himself.

 

“No, last night you gave me excuses. Now I want the reasons, the real reasons.”

 

Danny swallowed hard and dropped his eyes away from Steve’s.

 

“Those…those are my reasons,” he replied weakly.

 

“No they’re not,” Steve said decidedly. “Those are just excuses. The real reason you want to break up is you’re scared.”

 

“I’m not,” whispered Danny obstinately.

 

“Yeah you are. You’re scared of getting involved again. You’re scared of giving your heart to someone again. You’re terrified I’m going to leave you or run off with someone else like Rachel did. You’re afraid of being happy with me because you’re terrified that happiness will end.”

 

Danny kept his eyes firmly on the table, his hands tightly folded in his lap.

 

“I…I don’t think that’s true.”

 

“Yes it is. You’re afraid and I can understand that. I’m afraid too. I’ve lost so many people in my life don’t you think I’m absolutely fucking terrified of losing you and Grace? The difference is Danny that I face up to my fear. I’m not willing to give you up just because I’m afraid.”

 

Danny felt his eyes fill as he looked up at his partner.

 

“You aren’t?”

 

Steve shook his head.

 

“Nope.”

 

“But what if…?"

 

Steve waved a hand as if shooing away a fly.

 

“What if? What if? I’ve been dealing with what ifs since I was 16 years old Danny. If I let what ifs control my life I wouldn’t have a life. I'd be fixing surf boards in a shack on the beach.”

 

Steve took a deep breath and stopped to contemplate his next words.

 

“I can’t promise you this will absolutely, positively work out. I can’t promise we’ll be together forever. I can’t promise we might not hurt each other someday…”

 

Steve stretched his hands across the table and laid them out, palms up. After a moment’s hesitation, Danny put his hands into Steve’s. The SEAL squeezed them gently.

 

“All I can promise is that I want this – you and Grace and me. I’ve never wanted anything so much in my life. Whatever shit happens I want us to face it together.”

 

One lone tear rolled down Danny’s cheek and he rubbed his face into the sleeve of his upper arm to wipe it away. He found he couldn’t speak just at that moment; a new thing for him.

 

“Danno,” Steve continued his voice gentling. “I’m willing to take the risk. I’m willing to take whatever risks come from us being together because I know however much time we have together will be a hell of a lot better than us being apart. So how about you? Do you have the guts to commit to us or are Jersey boys all pussies?”

 

Danny jerked his head up and glared at his boyfriend. True, the glare wasn’t as intimidating with his red, wet eyes but he was sure Steve got the message.

 

“I’ll show you who’s a pussy McGarrett,” the detective growled. “I love you! I love you very much. How about that? Can you top that?”

 

Steve smirked and stuck out his jaw happy to take up the challenge.

 

“Top that? You want me to top that?”

 

Danny gently pulled his hands out of Steve’s grasp and crossed his arms belligerently on his chest.

 

“Show me what you’ve got Army boy!”

 

Steve stood up and stared down at Danny, one eyebrow raised as if assessing the strength of his opponent. He came out from behind the table and knelt down next to his lover.

 

“Marry me,” Steve asked gently, all sign of joking now gone.

 

Danny stared down at him in shock. His mouth dropped open.

 

“Steve I…Are you kidding?”

 

Steve smiled up at Danny and the blonde man could feel his stomach flutter at the look of pure love.

 

“I’m not kidding Danny. I love you. I want us to be together as long as possible. Marry me.”

 

Danny gasped turning in his chair to face his boyfriend. He placed his hands carefully on either side of Steve’s face and leaned over to give him a kiss.

 

“Yes Steve,” he whispered back. “Yes, yes, yes.”

 

The end.


End file.
